Batch 49

This week’s new whisky tasting notes include the latest release from Balvenie’s Tun 1509, an ‘exceptional’ blended malt from Sutcliffe & Son, a Sherried Glen Moray, a tropical Dailuaine, a funky Highland Park, and a Jura that’s reminiscent of a breakfast cereal favourite.

Balvenie Tun 1509 Batch 3

This is where the skill of the blender reveals itself. Some 31 casks have been married together by Balvenie malt master David Stewart, who has used their synergistic complexities to create a nose with a story. Honeycomb, tobacco leaf, leather, sultanas, warm baking spices, fig rolls and sherbet confection. With time comes vanilla ice cream over warm stewed apples.

Dailuaine-Glenlivet 11 Years Old (Cadenhead)

Robust and prickly, promising a hefty and classically Dailuaine palate to come. There’s toasted cereal and wet draff, which with time develops into a chocolate-covered Tracker bars and juicy dried papaya.

Palate

It delivers all that the nose promises: cooked fruit – peaches, raisins and Bramley apples, tropical muesli, with some spice toward the mid-palate all carried by a soft undercurrent of delicate smoke.

Finish

A flurry of caramelised pineapple, papaya and coconut.

Conclusion

A classic Dailuaine, just as good as the official 16-year-old Flora & Fauna bottling.

Glen Moray Sherry Cask Finish

It’s delicate, as the youthful age would suggest, but mighty complex. Rose water, Turkish delight with a dense coating of powdery icing sugar, blackcurrant flavouring – the kind found in a Twinings herbal tea, dried lemon peel and sugared winter spices.

Palate

Pokey for its strength. It mellows slightly into red fruits, liquorice and reveals a hint of Glen Moray’s signature orchard fruit character but that spiciness dominates.

Finish

Short.

Conclusion

The nose is soft and inviting but unfortunately the palate is just… boring. That’s not to mean Glen Moray’s Sherry finish is a write off. If you can’t sip it, mix it.

Right place, right time

Used as a base for a hard iced tea – cold brew some tea (strawberry, blackcurrant or raspberry herbal tea plus an Earl Grey bag) in the fridge overnight. Pour into a jug over ice, add a good slug of whisky and a few slices of lemon and stir. Perfect for sharing at a summer BBQ.

Highland Park 26 Years Old (Adelphi)

Funky, in the butyric sense. It’s a slab of Wensleydale with apricots. Get past the cheese and you’ll be rewarded with fresh, zingy tropical fruit, all pineapples and lime zest, earthed by vanilla cream.

Palate

A thick, creamy texture but prickly. The weight washes a torrent of fruit across the palate with pineapple and mango at the fore, helped on their way by a drying, oaky quality. Water loosens the thickness, dampens the spice and reveals sweet red apples.

Jura 30 Years Old Single Cask (Cadenhead)

Immediately there’s a rush of honey, hazelnuts and cereal – it’s a bowl of Crunchy Nut Cornflakes. Then gradually Jura’s distillery character emerges in the guise of freshly unwrapped sherbet lemons, orange zest and pear drops.

Palate

Thick with wood and spice through and through. It begins with dried, bitter citrus peel and banana leaf that rapidly transcends into dry liquorice, anise and black pepper. Water releases a sulphurous edge.

Finish

Rich and round, fruity and then tannic – Assam tea and molasses – which lingers, drying the mouth.